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@lightholder.com
110 followers 82 following 160 posts
Dad. Singer. Songwriter. Nostalgist. 🇮🇪 Hup the trad! Creator of joy, conversation, music, and community.
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Great crowd, great show at Sláinte Oakland for the October Irish American Writers and Artists, Inc west coast salon with Michael McNevin , Deborah Crooks , and Megan McLaughlin
Seán Lightholder, Megan McLaughlin, Deborah Crooks, and Michael McNevin stand, holding musical instruments and smiling in front of the hearth, its lintel lined with books, beneath a giant portrait of James Joyce at Slaínte Irish Pub in Oakland at the Irish American writers association west coast artist’s salon Michael McNevin stands at a microphone, holding his guitar and smiling at Slaínte Irish Pub in Oakland at the Irish American writers association west coast artist’s salon A poignant photo of Deborah Crooks at the microphone, playimg her guitar at Slaínte Irish Pub in Oakland at the Irish American writers association west coast artist’s salon Seán Lightholder plays the bodhrán while Megan McLaughlin sings and plays the guitar in front of a hearth, its lintel lined with books, framed portraits of famous Irish writers on a brick wall in the background at Slaínte Irish Pub in Oakland at the Irish American writers association west coast artist’s salon
October 9, 2025 at 4:08 PM
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Well, that was fun! Didn’t even have “play the soundtrack of a silent film” on my bucket list! @ameliahogan.bsky.social #essanaysilentfilmmuseum #niles #eugeneoneill #musician #livemusic #silentfilm
Skyler, Lightholder, and Amelia Hogan stand, laughing, in front of the Essanay Silent Film Museum in Niles, CA Skyler, Lightholder, and Amelia Hogan stand, laughing, in front of the Essanay Silent Film Museum in Niles, CA Skyler, Lightholder, and Amelia Hogan sit holding their instruments inside the Essanay Silent Film Museum in Niles, CA Skyler, Lightholder, and Amelia Hogan stand, smiling, in front of the Essanay Silent Film Museum in Niles, CA
September 12, 2025 at 10:55 PM
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Good times last night in Oakland at Slaínte‘s Irish American Writers and Artists salon with Robert W. Anderson , Barbara McVeigh, and Lori Cassels. Thanks so much for including us, Lori! #slainteoakland #lightholdermusic #caliceltic #flute #iawa #irishamericanwritersandartists #livemusic
Lightholder, wearing a blue fedora and a shirt with a print of Van Gogh’s Starry Night smiles while playing guitar. Behind him is the rustic, cluttered decor of Slaínte Irish pub Barbara McVeigh, hair down and wearing a diaphanous golden robe over a mauve dress, peers over her reading glasses at a printed script next to a microphone at Slaínte Irish pub Robert Anderson, wearing glasses and a printed button-up, closes his eyes while singing into a microphone at Slaínte Irish pub Lori Cassels leans into a microphone, holding a large open binder, from which she’s reading a personal memoir
September 11, 2025 at 3:14 PM
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@kennyschick-b3.bsky.social and Raffy Espiritu at the Pooor House Bistro. Such excellent folks and excellent original tunes. #livemusic #sanjose #music #songwriter
A crowd watches Kenny Schick play in the poor house bistro outdoor patio Kenny Shick laughs while singing and playing guitar Bespectacled Raffy Espiritu, wearing a stingy brim fedora with a striped hatband and a blue tie-dye shirt sings into a Shure beta58 microphone Kenny Schick and Raffy Espiritu play acoustic guitars onstage at the poor house bistro in San Jose
September 7, 2025 at 9:12 PM
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Mid-session concertina surgery! #irish #trad #session #concertina #oflahertys #traditionalirishmusic
June 25, 2025 at 3:55 PM
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A little clip from Saturday’s farmer’s market with Jules
June 16, 2025 at 2:34 PM
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Good times last night at the Irish American Writers and Artists salon at Slaínte in Oakland
The Bay Station band gets ready to play in front of a hearth topped by a row of books under a portrait of James Joyce. On the left Deborah tunes for guitar, in the middle Kwame adjust his amps settings, and on the right Seán sits with his bodhrán. Eyes closed, Amelia Hogan sings into the microphone Karl McHugh sings into the microphone and plays his guitar The various musical artists from the Irish American writer and artist salon stand before the hearth singing together as a group
June 12, 2025 at 2:15 PM
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Bzzzz

#bees #bachelorbee #halictusharmonius #bumblebee #california #californiabee #flowers #pollenators
June 4, 2025 at 3:29 PM
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The Irish coffee session at Strawberry Music Festival this year. Yours truly slinging caffeine & shots of Brose! #livemusic #strawberrymusicfestival #strawberrymusicfestival2025 #irishmusic #session #irishcoffee
May 30, 2025 at 4:31 AM
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At the Friday afternoon Velcro Lounge bluegrass jam at the Strawberry Music Festival
May 27, 2025 at 3:04 PM
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What a great Strawberry 2025! #strawberryfestival #livemusic
Dawn Ellerbeck, a dark-haired woman, plays the upright bass in the background while Mokai Blue, wearing sunglasses and a baseball cap, plays guitar in the foreground The children’s parade at The Strawberry Festival is depicted: a crowd of children and adults carrying giant home-made paper mache strawberries walk across the lawn against a backdrop of tall pine trees A little dark haired girl with face paint toasts her grandmother, who is holding a fiddle and smiling at the camera A group of musicians gathers around in a circle playing music late at night in a campsite
May 26, 2025 at 7:51 PM
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Great tone in 30 minutes or less, or it’s free!
Pizza box guitar pedal setup: an open pizza box contains three daisy-chained guitar pedals, whose chords have been routed through the sides of the pizza box. It resembles the sort of thing that people do when they’re trying to set up guitar pedal boards. Of course, using a pizza boxes is a… questionable approach.
May 20, 2025 at 3:29 PM
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Good times, good tunes, and one enormous hat at two-day town this weekend
A man in an enormous round-brimmed hat and sunglasses stands in front of a man in a regular baseball cap Sitting onstage with his bodhrán in the foreground, Seán smiles while Dawn grins from behind with her upright bass A group of musicians in a restored coach play in a jam circle Group of musicians in warm clothing gather around a fire to play music. Guitars, an upright bass, and a canon are among the instruments
May 5, 2025 at 3:49 PM
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Next to last Mudpuddle Shop jam. Pat McClellan out of retirement for the occasion (Pat played upright on two of my tracks a couple years back). Good to be here. Gonna miss this. #livemusic #nilesca #michaelmcnevin
A dog relaxes at the jam Two men play guitar and sing Part of the crowd at a live music jam
April 28, 2025 at 4:22 AM
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Learning a bunch of new whiskey songs for a gig. Might write one or two more to add in there, too. What’s your favorite whiskey/bourbon song?
Three hands, each holding a differently-styled half-full whiskey tumbler, reach into the picture
April 26, 2025 at 3:54 AM
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dust bowl travelers rehearsal! So grateful lately for the folks around me who play music and invite me to join them. Sometimes when life feels heavy, a few tunes can lift you up.
Paul the bassist gestures expansively while Seán with a mandolin in the foreground and Jeff with a guitar in the background sit around a table at rehearsal
April 10, 2025 at 3:43 AM
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Stumbling Distance is a real thing now!

#copyright #libraryofcongress #holdmusic #caliceltic #stumblingdistance #songwriter #composer #sheetmusic #paddyparadise #registercopyright
April 4, 2025 at 10:28 PM
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Still buzzing from yesterday’s San Francisco show #caliceltic #frontst #sanfrancisco #harringtonsbar #schroedersbar #royalexchange #livemusic
The handsome, bearded singer of CaliCeltic is wearing a green Ireland beanie with white Viking horns. He holds a guitar and hefts a pint of Guinness against the backdrop of San Francisco’s skyscrapers The handsome, bearded singer of CaliCeltic wearing a green Ireland beanie with white Viking horns holds a guitar jauntily, posing alongside a fiddler in a wild green blazer and tie against the backdrop of San Francisco’s skyscrapers on front street The handsome, bearded singers of CaliCeltic, one wearing a green Ireland beanie with white Viking horns and green shamrock-shaped sunglasses, the other wearing green plastic beads and an Irish flat cap, pose from the stage in front of of a large crowd on front street under San Francisco’s skyscrapers The handsome, bearded singer of CaliCeltic, wearing a green Ireland beanie with white Viking horns and green shamrock-shaped sunglasses, poses, grinning, from the stage in front of of a large, jubilant crowd on Front street under San Francisco’s skyscrapers
March 18, 2025 at 6:56 PM
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No crowd like a San Francisco crowd! #caliceltic #sanfrancisco #stpatricksday #shippinguptoboston #dropkickmurphys #livemusic #piccolo #harringtonsbar
March 18, 2025 at 3:58 PM
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CaliCeltic shows over the Paddy’s Day weekend: #rebelkitchelibations #cityofdublinca #sanfrancisco #caliceltic #livemusic #stpatricksday #sfbayarea #irishmusic
March 10, 2025 at 2:55 AM
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ASMR CD unboxing

Limited-run CaliCeltic Paddy Paradise physical CDs have arrived! Yayyy!
March 6, 2025 at 7:59 PM
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Where is the Man in the Boat?

#manintheboat #pirate #funny #humor #paddleboard #CaliCeltic #irish #celtic #celticmusic #irishmusic #feminism #mysogyny #patriarchy #feministdiscourse
March 5, 2025 at 7:22 AM
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Oakland’s Mardi Gras parade tonight #oakland #mardigras #parade
March 5, 2025 at 6:24 AM
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New music! Paddy Paradise is out today!!

music.apple.com/us/album/pad...

youtube.com/playlist?lis...

music.amazon.com/albums/B0DXM...

open.spotify.com/album/22ER38...
The album cover of CaliCeltic’s Paddy Paradise. It depicts an island with three palm trees, whose trunks are made of Celtic knots and instead of coconuts. It has whiskey bottles hanging below the front in the water around the island float two of these bottles. Beautiful sunset behind the island is occurring, but beneath the island Looms an ominous skull, making it look as if the island retreating above the waterline is simply the top of a massive skull.
February 28, 2025 at 2:12 PM
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Reflecting how lucky I am: tomorrow my Irish band, CaliCeltic, drops its FIFTH album & tonight I've been invited to play some of my original songs at a songwriter showcase.
#songwriter #indiemusic #musician #livemusic #newmusic #caliceltic #paddyparadise
February 27, 2025 at 10:29 PM